26 



JOURNAL OF HORTICULTURE AND COTTAGE GARDENER. 



[ July 12, 1877. 



complain of the Marechal being " same," although both sides 

 of two or three span-roofed houses might be covered with it 

 on the roof. I have known some people to have had thousands 

 of blooms of it out at the same time, but I never yet heard a 

 word about there being too many. It is asserted that it does 

 not do well or live long on the Manetti stock. I know it does 

 capitally on its own roots. 



Other good Roses in the same class for climbing indoors are 

 Celine Forestier, canary yellow, fine form ; Madame Caroline 

 Kuster, light lemon ; JauneDeeprez, pink; Aimee Vibert, pure 

 white; Cloth of Gold is an effective name, but that, as a rule, is 

 the best of it. When used in a cut state all these Roses should 

 be cut by the time they are half open. Another Rose worthy of 

 a place next the Marechal is Gloire de Dijon. It grows and 

 blooms freely, and its buff-orange flowers are of great sub- 

 stance. This is a Tea-scented Rose ; and amongst these there 

 are some lovely Roses for climbing, I will only name a few. 

 Clotilde, white and pink ; Madame Falcot, rich orange ; Perle 

 de Lyon, nearly as good in colour as Marechal Niel, but not 

 so free in growth ; Marie Van 'Hontte, white ; Madame Mar- 

 gottin, beautiful yellow and pink; Devoniensis is superb in 

 the bud, but the blooms are not produced freely enough to 

 warrant its being recommended. 



Those who have climbing Roses under glass should now 

 keep them clean and train the shoots thinly ; for it is by good 

 attention given at this period of the year that blooms — some 

 gorgeous, some lovely— -are eventually produced. — J. Munt. 



WATER. 



The gardener who hath a full supply of water and ample 

 means for its distribution among his parched crops in this 

 hot weather is a man in the enjoyment of great privileges ; 

 let him be thankful and murmur not because he lacketh other 

 things which are as trifles in comparison. Do you not agree 

 with me, brother blue-aprons? and is not the very sight of my 

 title refreshing in this droughty time, to Bay nothing of the 

 copious supply of the precious fluid itself, which I most heartily 

 wish was at the disposal of every one of you ? for I am well 

 aware from dearly-bought experience how badly many gardens 

 are supplied with water ; and it is with an earnest wish to 

 assist those who may be now having to contend with the diffi- 

 culties arising from such an unsatisfactory state that I now 

 refer to the subject. 



To promote that free, strong, succulent growth in vegetables 

 which is so desirable it is necessary that the soil be moist as 

 well as rich — a condition of things which it is often difficult to 

 maintain during a period of drought, moisture then escaping 

 from the soil by evaporation with such rapidity that a crop 

 may be spoilt, if not lost outright, through a few days' inat- 

 tention to what is going on, and neglect in the prompt applica- 

 tion of the most simple remedy of all — plenty of water. There 

 is, however, something very unsatisfactory in this constant 

 pouriDg-on of water — this daily contest with the drought, the 

 surface of the soil' becoming so washed and hardened that 

 soon the water will not enter freely until the soil has been 

 broken up or stirred with hoes. To meet this difficulty and 

 in a great measure overcome it, the first good drenching with 

 water should be followed immediately by a surface-dressing of 

 rough leaf soil, old hotbed or any half-decayed manure, which 

 tends so materially to check evaporation, that a weekly, or 

 even a fortnightly, watering does more good than the daily 

 one without surface-dressing, for the palpable reason that no 

 hitch occurs in the food supply of the crop, the moisture- 

 laden soil promoting that steady process of decay in the ma- 

 nures stored up in it, and the absorption of the fertilising 

 gases, which are thus constantly permeating the soil : hence 

 arises a free strong growth and a full and perfect development 

 of tuber, root, fruit, flower, or seed — whatever property for which 

 each crop is cultivated for is obtained ; the truest economy of 

 time and labour exemplified, and, best of all, the glorious sum- 

 mer weather is turned to full account instead of being wasted 

 or suffered to destroy those crops to which it is bo truly bene- 

 ficial when supplemented by skilful and timely culture. 



However carefully and well water may be applied a large 

 quantity is quite certain to be wanted in every garden during 

 summer ; prompt measures Bhould therefore be taken to remedy 

 any deficiency in the supply. Storage must be reBorted to if 

 there is no such perennial source as a spring on a higher level 

 than the garden, or a hydraulic ram throwing up water from 

 a valley. A garden that is unprovided with some such means 

 of combating the evils attendant upon a hot dry season may 



fairly be termed quite behind the age, and in such instances 

 it is certainly most unfair, to say the least, to expect either 

 fruit, vegetables, or flowers in perfection. 



No doubt there are hundreds of gardens having neither an 

 elevated spring nor a stream in a valley near them, but I quite 

 fail to see why any one of them should be without an abundant 

 supply of rain water accumulated during autumn, winter, and 

 spring in ponds or tanks — ponds being altogether prefarable, 

 as they are less expensive, and the water is fully exposed to 

 sun and air. If I am asked how the ponds are to be filled, a 

 variety of ways immediately present themselves to the mind. 

 The house itself and every outbuilding Bhould have shooting 

 and gutters to convey the rainfall to drains, suoh drains being 

 carried under walks having gratings and connections at the 

 sides. Then, too, the very land itself may be drained and the 

 main drains made to empty into a pond. And remember that 

 pond-making is not an expensive affair, even when done upon 

 a dead level ; for by turning the Boil which we excavate to 

 account for raising the sides the required depth is soon reached, 

 the most expensive part of the business being the pnddhng, 

 which it is usually necessary to do in order to prevent waste 

 from soakage through the sides and bottom. 



To raise the water thuB accumulated to a higher level a 

 force-pump will be necessary. I have used a cheap and simple 

 form of pump for sewage very successfully for the last three 

 years, and hope soon to give a sketch of its fittings ; but I 

 may now say that with it one man can with two strokes draw 

 up the sewage from a depth of 10 feet and force it through 

 some 200 feet of piping to an elevation of 25 feet, and as the 

 specific gravity of sewage must be considerably greater than 

 that of clear water a similar apparatus could of course be 

 used for the latter. When such a pump is used let it always be 

 placed immediately over a cistern or close by the pond, so as 

 to force the water through the greater length of piping, and to 

 draw it through such a short length only as is necessary to 

 reach nearly to the pond bottom. — Edward Luckhubst. 



THE DEGENERATION OF ROSES. 

 The question as to the degeneration of Roses is one that 

 requires much consideration before you can come to any de- 

 finite conclusion about it, and most people have been too busy 

 lately in their gardens to spare time for the contemplative 

 part of horticulture. In the first place, is it admitted as a 

 fact that the Rosea mentioned have degenerated ? If they 

 have, it might be possible to account for it in other ways than 

 those suggested by your able correspondent " Herefordshire 

 Incumbent." Many of them are grown in email holes at the 

 edges of lawns, which never suits them well (if Roses are 

 wanted at the edges of lawns there ought to be a narrow con- 

 tinuous bed of earth), and others are perhaps over-stimulated 

 in their earlier years. In either ease the buds propagated 

 would be liable to degenerate. With regard to G&ant des 

 Batailles, I think it has been surpassed by the newer varieties. 

 I have looked over Mr. Darwin's interesting remarks on bud 

 variation in his " Plants and Animals under Domestication," 

 but have not been able to find any allusion to the propagation 

 of the Rose by budding on the Briar stock as a cause of dege- 

 neration. It may be in some other work. He says a great 

 deal about the necessity of changing seed and procuring plants 

 from other places to prevent their degenerating, and I have 

 experienced the same thing with regard to Strawberries pro- 

 pagated from runners. I can quite understand the Rose 

 suffering if propagated for a long time from buds grown in the 

 same garden, particularly if not a suitable soil ; but if grown 

 with proper care and a change of buds procured occasionally 

 I think there is a very long lease of life before most of our 

 favourites. I think the propagation of Roses by budding is 

 not a parallel case to the propagation of plants by self-fer- 

 tilisation ; in the former case you have a continual change of 

 stock, and aa the bud growa it is merely an extension of a 

 former growth. It may be influenced for good or evil by the 

 previous stocks by means of which its life has been extended, 

 but most likely not in the same way as a self-fertilised plant. 

 Some of our Apples have been propagated by grafts for hun- 

 dreds of years, and are as good as ever they were. It is true 

 Knight thought there was a limit to their duration, and that 

 some of them had nearly reached that limit ; but other autho- 

 rities, amongst whom I believe was Mr. Rivers, had doubts on 

 the subject, and seemed to think their career might be almost 

 indefinitely prolonged, and I am rather inclined to take that 

 view of the Rose. 



